Nutrition Assistance: "Food as Medicine."

Existing law provides for the California Health and Human Services Agency, which includes the State Department of Health Care Services, the State Department of Public Health, and the State Department of Social Services. Existing law establishes various programs and services under those departments, including the Medi-Cal program, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services, such as enteral nutrition products, the California Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, which is administered by the State Department of Public Health and counties and under which nutrition and other assistance are provided to eligible individuals who have been determined to be at nutritional risk, and the CalFresh program, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact the Wilma Chan Food as Medicine Act of 2022.